Jelly Belly
by obsidians
Summary: Reno learns the hard way that he shouldn't drink when depressed. Just written for humour.


I don't own FF7 or its characters and make no profit writing these stories.

Reno treated most of his emotional problems the same way: he drank, he drank when in a bad mood and would use sexual release to blow off his frustrations. He drank to relieve tension and to celebrate anything positive going on in his life. He wasn't one to ask for help when feeling depressed as in his line of work, asking for a hug would gander stares of disbelief as they questioned his sanity.

However, he was beyond emotionally raw that night as he had received news his only surviving relative, his beloved grandmother was dead. He hadn't told anyone as he didn't like to bother people with his grief and there was simply no one to tell outside of his work, he simply wasn't close to anyone. So instead he hit 7th Heaven, the first bar within walking distance of his place and drank on his own and politely told the women he normally scored with that he wasn't in the mood. This was met with stares of disbelief.

Truth be told, he only wanted to be held, to be allowed to give into his grief while someone who cared about him took charge of him in his moment of weakness and soothed his pain away. If he wanted sex at all, he wanted it gentle and soothing and then shook his head to clear it of foolish, girlish thoughts and ordered another double tequila shot as it was a much more manly response.

Tifa had noticed Reno seemed off his game and was surprised when he was still there at the end of the night. He was slumped over the table and seemed to be staring off into the distant at nothing. "Well, looks like you didn't score tonight. You have to go and sleep your hangover off. Good thing you live just a few blocks over" Tifa said and put a hand on his arm to get his attention.

"Tifa" he slurred looking up at her.

"You know my name, that's a good thing. I thought you might have killed all your brain cells tonight...hey are you okay?" she asked him when he let out a sob, her simple touch had set him off and she instinctively stepped forward at the sounds of someone in pain and took him in her arms. His own arms wrapped shakily around her and it was like something had burst within him and he started sobbing uncontrollably.

He woke up hours later lying on a couch with his head in someone's lap as that person stroked his hair. He wondered where he was and sat up to find his ponytail had been released in his slumbers. Then he thought about how he had been lying on his side, that meant that half of his spikes were probably flat on that side and spiked on the other; a highly stupid look for him. "Where am I?" he said rubbing his eyes that he realized were stinging and got a bad feeling about that.

"You're in my apartment," Tifa explained."Are you feeling better?" she asked him in sympathy, laying a hand on his back. He froze at this and then remembered weeping. He could feel his cheeks heat up at the memory.

Reno didn't cry, it had been trained out of him. The last time he cried had been when his mother had died and he'd been a young teenager. However, he did remember that he wasn't pretty when he wept. It wasn't like in the movies where the stoic, seemingly emotionless man finally wept some crystalline tears and looked tough, but gorgeous in his vulnerability and was embraced by the lady fair to tug at fan girl's heartstrings everywhere and boost ratings. When Reno wept, he went a splotchy red all over his face, his eyelids swelled up like twin blimps, his nose turned cherry red and ran like a faucet and once he started sobbing, it was hard for him to stop.

"I'm fine" he said in a tight voice. "I should go."

"You sure you don't need to be cuddled some more? It's no problem. You need to properly grieve your Grandmother's death" she said in a gooey voice as if speaking to a child.

"I told you about that?" he said scrubbing his face with his hands in frustration and trying not to groan aloud.

"It sounds like she was really special to you" Tifa said in encouragement.

"She was" he admitted, acutely embarrassed.

"Feel free to come to me if you need a hug. But I can't offer you the comfort sex you need; love making is meant for people in love and cannot be faked. Never confuse the two. Of course needing good, loving sex is normal when you're grieving but it needs to be with someone you have true feelings for, where you want to lose yourself in their arms and fold yourself within their heart" Tifa cautioned him and his blush deepened at this.

Reno groaned again internally, he'd told her about that too. What else had he said? "Good to know" he said in a strangled voice. "I have to go home" he stiffly added.

"I'm going to bed myself. You were quite the emotional mess last night, I was cuddling you for hours" she said.

"Sorry about that" he lamely said, positive he glowing by that point.

"Go get some rest, Jelly Belly" she said and surprised him by giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"Jelly Belly?" he repeated with dawning horror.

"Your grandmother's nickname for you; where you used to laugh when she tickled you as a baby and this would cause your little belly to shake. That's so cute. I'm glad you told me" Tifa said, as her lips quirked at his look of sheer terror.

"No one can _ever_ know about that!" Reno hissed at her she just smiled and saw him to the door and closed it behind him with a smirk. "Tifa, you understand me? No one!" he shouted after the woman while she hummed and got ready for bed.

He gave the door one final sour look and left.


End file.
